Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from Odisha get Smart City tag

Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from Odisha have found place in the Central government’s Smart City list.

Out of the 98 cities announced by Union minister Venkaiah Naidu for the Smart City mission, two cities from Odisha have figured in the list. In the list of 98, 24 state capitals have been included.

A maximum of 13 cities from Uttar Pradesh have been chosen for the Smart City mission. Tamil Nadu has bagged the second spot with 12 cities figuring in the list, followed by Maharashtra with 10 and Madhya Pradesh with 7.

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Besides the two cities, the Odisha government had proposed three other cities Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur to get smart city tag. However, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela were the front runners among the five cities.

Speaking on the occasion, Naidu said: “13 crore population across 98 cities, which is 35% of urban population, will be covered under Smart City Mission. The implementation of the mission at the city level will be done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).”

Rs 50,000 crore have been earmarked by the central government to develop 100 smart cities in the country. Each selected city would get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the criteria and guidelines for 100 Smart Cities to be selected through city challenge competition in June 25.

Barring Jammu and Kashmir, all states had finalised the names of proposed Smart Cities through competition.

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